Hord Coplan Macht Announces Opening of New Science Buildings at CSU

Hord Coplan Macht (HCM) announces the openings of two new science buildings on the campus of Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, CO with another project currently in design. The two new facilities on campus, a $58 million biology building and $41 million chemistry building, both designed by Hord Coplan Macht, are the anchors of the growing CSU Science Commons. The LEED Gold-certified buildings are adjacent to one another and the future Health Education Outreach Center, which is also being designed by the firm.

The new biology building is a four-story, 154,000-square-foot teaching and research facility. The LEED Gold-certified structure houses the CSU biology department, including research labs, special collections used for teaching, faculty offices and idea space for collaboration. A large portion of the building is also dedicated to classrooms, teaching labs, student common spaces, advising and tutoring offices, and study rooms. The biology department is the largest in the College of Natural Sciences at CSU, with more than 1,400 undergraduate students studying in the biological science or zoology majors. The project was completed by the design-build team of Hord Coplan Macht and Haselden Construction.

The chemistry building is a new 60,000-square-foot laboratory building, also LEED Gold-certified. The building includes 11 faculty labs, as well as space for dozens of researchers, graduate students and undergraduates. It is constructed around four central, flexible, open lab spaces and windowed corridors to foster collaboration and connection. Each floor’s main lab is centered around a particular area of research excellence. The first-floor is focused on materials chemistry. The second floor is centered on inorganic and polymer chemistry. In the third-floor lab, faculty and others are working on synthetic organic chemistry and the fourth floor is geared toward chemical biology. The project was designed though a joint effort between Hord Coplan Macht and RATIO Architects. Haselden Construction was the general contractor.

The chemistry and biology structures were built in tandem, utilizing different delivery methods, allowing both projects to minimize costs and create a thoughtful, new, unified Science Commons. The evolving CSU Science Commons includes bike and pedestrian paths, outdoor seating areas, native plant landscaping and an integrated storm water recapture system.

“The new Science Commons, created by the new biology and chemistry buildings and future Health Education Outreach Center addition, showcases CSU’s dedication to providing a state-of-the-art science education to their students,” says Jennifer Cordes, principal, Hord Coplan Macht. “All three buildings focus on providing open and adaptable laboratories for researchers and their teams. All of the labs are daylit, where appropriate, with views to the outside making the spaces ideal for science exploration.”

The HCM|Haselden design-build team is currently working with CSU to design and construct the new Health Education Outreach Center, an addition to the anatomy/zoology building, and the JBS Global Food Innovation Center, an addition to the animal sciences building. These two projects will further enhance the CSU Science Commons, which is beginning to take shape on the main campus.